Child Endangerment

A woman having sex Monday didn't notice that her shower curtain had caught fire, having disabled her apartment's smoke alarm to smoke methamphetamine, which she stored in an adjacent room where a baby was sleeping, authorities said. Susan Ruth Charnitski, 43, was arrested on suspicion of drug possession and child endangerment, said Orange County Sheriff's Sgt. Nancy Gafner. A candle in the bathroom ignited the plastic curtain, Gafner said, triggering a sprinkler in the building in the 1000 block of Calle Del Cerro.

A 5-year-old girl was killed and three other youths injured when the speeding vehicle they were riding in struck a curb and plunged down an embankment in San Juan Capistrano, authorities said Sunday. Driver Antolin Brito, 30, was speeding in a Ford Explorer shortly before 7 p.m. Saturday when he raced through an intersection in the 30300 block of Camino Capistrano and hit the curb, said Lt. Jerry Carlson of the Orange County Sheriff's Department. The vehicle hurtled down an embankment, coming to a stop at some railroad tracks.

The trial of a son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy on misdemeanor charges he scuffled with nurses when he tried to take his newborn son out of a hospital resumed Tuesday morning in suburban New York. It was the second day of the proceedings in the Mount Kisco Town Court where Kennedy faces charges of harassment and child endangerment in connection with the incident. The trial resumed Tuesday morning, broke for lunch and will resume in the afternoon, a court spokesman said by telephone.

Former state Assemblyman Chris Norby was free on bail Thursday after being arrested on suspicion of domestic abuse and child endangerment, the latest in a series of domestic issues dating back to his days as an Orange County supervisor. Norby was booked and then released on $10,000 bail after Fullerton police were summoned to his home around noon Wednesday. Citing state law, authorities said they were prohibited from releasing more information about the victims in the case. But Norby said Thursday that he believes his wife, Martha Norby, went to the Fullerton police station with the allegations of abuse.

The trial for a son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, accused in a maternity ward scuffle, began on Monday in Westchester County, New York. Douglas Kennedy is charged with physical harassment and child endangerment, both misdemeanors. On Jan. 7, Kennedy allegedly tried to take his 2-day-old son from the maternity ward at Northern Westchester Hospital. Nurses tried to stop him and two claimed he injured them. One nurse said Kennedy twisted her arm and the other said he kicked her in the pelvis.

A 44-year-old man with criminal convictions for burglary who was living in a home in La Mesa where two children drowned was charged Wednesday with felony counts of child endangerment and drug possession. Larry Dangelo is charged with running a marijuana cultivation operation while two children were living in the home. The home has a backyard swimming pool without a fence around it. Two-year-old Jason Bradford and his sister, 1-year-old Harley, died Monday after being pulled unconscious and unresponsive from the pool.

A 34-year-old Lancaster woman will be charged with child endangerment after her four children were discovered living alone in a squalid house for two days, authorities said. The children's mother, Lisa Ramirez, was last seen Friday and was believed to be in Delano, Calif., said Los Angeles County Sheriff's Det. Paul Kaser. "The home was filthy and unfit to live in," Kaser said.

Two San Fernando Valley women were being held Thursday on suspicion of endangering their children by leaving them alone in unfit homes, Los Angeles police said. Saundra Crockett, 33, of Sunland, was booked at the Van Nuys Jail on suspicion of child endangerment, said Helen Lloyd, an LAPD spokeswoman. She was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail. In a separate arrest, Shannan Flynn, 23, of Tujunga was booked at Van Nuys Jail on one count of child endangerment. Her bail also was set at $50,000.

Police searched Tuesday for the mother of two toddlers found wandering on a busy South L.A. street after they tried to get a loaf of bread. Investigators were concerned about the well-being of Sidnicka Wilson, 32, of Los Angeles, after looking for her for more than a day now, said Los Angeles Police Capt. Lillian Carranza. “Normally, we don't have trouble finding parents,” Carranza said. “We're concerned.” The brothers, 2 and 3 years old, were first spotted inside a liquor store at Stanford and Manchester avenues Monday at 9 a.m., trying to get a loaf of bread.

A San Bernardino mother was arrested after authorities said she left her 10-year-old son with two transients so she could party on New Year's Eve. Summer Collras, 36, called law enforcement Wednesday morning, saying she had returned home that morning and found that her son and the two people -- friends of hers who were supposed to watch him -- weren't there, according to a statement from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. The boy had last been seen about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The mother of a 2-year-old boy found wandering the streets of Lynwood was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment, authorities said Thursday night. Asia Ramsey, 20, was taken into custody Thursday night at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Century Station, authorities said. Her son was spotted near Imperial Highway and El Avenue by a tow truck driver, who alerted deputies, Lt. Dan Nathan said. The child was in the middle of the street, the deparment said.

A 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of methamphetamine possession and other crimes after he and his 1-year-old child were found living in a garage in Riverside County, authorities said Monday. Clayton Chavez and the child were found in the Wildomar garage after authorities responded to a report of possible illegal drug abuse at the location in the 3200 block of Central Street, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. The 1-year-old was turned over to the county Child Protective Service agency, authorities said.

The uncle of a 2-year-old boy who was killed by a group of pit bulls in San Bernardino County pleaded not guilty Wednesday to child endangerment. The boy's grandmother, who owns the home where the attack occurred, was also arrested on suspicion of child endangerment. However, prosecutors declined to file charges against Eustulia Zamudio, 42, because of insufficient evidence, according to the San Bernardino County district attorney's office. Samuel Zamudio's body was discovered Monday afternoon in the backyard of Eustalia Zamudio's Colton home. Colton police said Samuel suffered extensive wounds to his upper body. He was rushed to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

When 2-year-old Samuel Zamudio's grandmother came home and asked where the toddler was, family members frantically searched every room and even asked neighbors if they'd seen him. Finally, the grandmother, 42-year-old Eustulia Zamudio, tried the backyard and screamed. Lying in the dirt, his clothes torn from his body, was Samuel's mangled, lifeless body. Police said the five pit bull mixes Zamudio kept out back had fatally mauled the boy. PHOTOS: Toddler mauled to death by pit bulls "We just don't have an explanation," said Erica Vega, a family friend who was one of the adults at the house on Citrus Street in Colton when the attack occurred.

It appears that Joe Torre is no longer the best catcher in the family. Torre's daughter, Cristina Torre, was having coffee at a Brooklyn cafe Wednesday when a man rushed in asking people to call 911: A 1-year-old boy had crawled out onto the fire escape of a nearby apartment building. “I quickly got up and looked, and there was a baby kind of straddling the fire escape between the second and the third floor,” Cristina Torre told CNN. “All of a sudden, it slipped, and it was dangling and holding on with its hands.” The boy then lost his grip, bounced off an awning below the fire escape and right into the waiting arms of Torre.

Sacramento police are investigating a woman they believe was intoxicated when she passed out at a Taco Bell, about 20 feet away from where she had left her 6-month-old child inside a car. Customers noticed the vehicle -- the windows down, radio on and engine running -- in the parking lot Monday morning at least an hour before an employee parked next to it and saw the baby inside, Sacramento police spokeswoman Michele Gigante said. Employees and customers got the baby out of the car and called police, who arrived just before noon. Responding officers discovered the baby's mother, who appeared to be intoxicated, Gigante said.